96th Birthday!!!

Sunday we celebrated a 96th birthday - that is when you add 70 and 26 together.  Happy Birthdays Mom and Breanne!!! We had our requisite family birthday dinner which was rounded out by two birthday desserts. Mom has been wanting to try making this Coconut Cake recipe, so we did. We made chocolate frosting instead of coconut, but if we make again, I think we will make the coconut frosting instead. Here's how it turned out. 

It's a very dense cake and took a long time to bake.....unfortunately, it fell and so there was an large amount of frosting added to make it look a little less wonky..... :) It was super yummy though. 

Breanne wanted something that involved chocolate and caramel.  She didn't have anything specific in mind, so she let me just come up with something. So, being the baked goods inventor that I am, I decided to take an old recipe and reinvent it into what I am going to call the Salty Carmel Chocolate Bars. A chocolate oatmeal cookie crust filled with Dulce de Leche and caramel filling.....mmmmmmm. Here are a couple of pictures.  

Sweet is always good with a little salty, so I added some crumbled potato chips to the filling. Ever dipped a potato chip in caramel? You should try it....it's delicious.

Here's what they look like right out of the oven

And here's the inside. Want the recipe? Scroll down to the bottom of this post. 

Of course, I had to make something crafty for my mom's birthday gift. She's been needing a new ironing board cover, so thanks to my sister's tutorial on Blue Susan Makes I made her one. 

It was super fast to make. Once I got it cinched tight around the board, It was still a little loose (I probably cut it too big), so I took a piece of embroidery floss and sewed a quick zigzag from side to side and now it is perfectly snug. 

Becky, super patient Becky, made this cork board wall hanging for Breanne.....it's amazing! She cut it all out and traced all of the states with a Sharpie. It's awesome.

Happy Birthday Mom and Breanne! I love you both!

Carmel Fudge Bars

Ingredients

Combine the following:

1 cup butter (melted)

½ cup Cocoa

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

Add:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups quick-cooking oats

Filling

¼ cup Salted Butter

1 14 oz can Dulce de Leche

1 bag carmels (unwrapped)

1 cup crushed potato chips (or more if you want more saltiness)

Preheat oven to 350°.  Grease or spray a 9x13x2 inch glass pan.  

Melt butter, then add cocoa and stir until smooth. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla. Sift together flour, soda, salt and oats and then combine with the butter/sugar mixture.  Set aside about ½  cup of the dough for topping. Pat the remaining dough into the bottom of the pan and 1/4” up the sides.  Set aside. 

To prepare filling: 

In a heavy bottom sauce pan, melt butter over low heat.  Add Dulce de Leche and caramels. Stir continually over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in potato chips.

Pour filling over the dough.  Spread evenly over dough, not quite all the way to the edges. 

Break remaining dough into small pieces and drop evenly onto the filling. It will not cover the filling completely.   . 

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until filling looks set and cookie topping is slightly browned. Let cool completely before cutting into 2” squares (approximately 2 hours in refrigerator or 3 – 4 hours on counter top.)